Defending Your College Education Essay Example

out of high school. However, my father told me to stop being ignorant and get an education first so when I leave the military I could go right into the workforce and not have to go back to school. Then, I started looking into career paths that I could take, this led me to the medical field. For three years in high school I was the student athletic trainer, assisting the trainer with his job.

Upon further evaluation of the field I realized that it was too competitive and there was no advancement in the field, you just stay a trainer for your career. After finding this out, I looked into physical therapy, where I found out the same things as the athletic training field, very competitive and no advancement. I was then pointed in the direction of nursing, so I researched it and with my luck, there were plenty of options and types of nurses.

You could be in a doctor’s office, a school, a laboratory doing research, or a multitude of departments in a hospital. Nursing is perfect for me because I can interact with people, help them and it fits into my plan of going into the military. Although that plan is delayed by four years, the choice to come to Fairleigh Dickinson first was the right choice because I am setting myself up for the future by getting a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

First of all, one of the most attracting reasons to get a bachelor’s degree is the monetary benefits that are yielded. Fortunately, Fairleigh Dickinson has given me quite a bit of financial support through scholarships to ease my burden, but it

is still a decent amount of money to be spending. However, putting money into my education is a risk I am willing to take to potentially make more money later on in life.

According to a Georgetown study, the average college graduate earns one million dollars more than their high school graduate counterpart (Carnevale 3). Although, one million dollars over your lifetime may not seem like a lot of money, but that is a million dollars that could go towards retirement, education fund for future kids, and a plethora of other beneficial things. The money could be put towards a masters degree in nursing, which would help me make even more money, although it is another long term investment.

Another study, by the Pew Research Center, it states that students who graduate college earn, on average, $17,500 more money per year than a person with only a high school diploma. Additionally, that gap keeps widening as years go by; 53 years ago, in 1965, that gap was only a mere $7000 (Osborn). The statistics on the monetary benefits of a college degree only keep adding up and these statistics are very general.

The data for the nursing field is much more promising, BSNedu.org lists that the average yearly income for an RN (associates degree in nursing) is about $66,200, while the average nurse with a BSN (bachelor’s degree in nursing) earns nearly $80,200 (BSNedu.org). That is $16,000 per year more for only two more years of school; with minimum expenses, a person can earn the extra money the they spent on school within a couple of years.

Fortunately, I barely have the financial stability to attend a four year

school to get a BSN, which in the end will only benefit me. To attend a county college to get an associates degree would be substantially less, about seven times less in fact, however, there are more factors to consider. In New Jersey, nurses with an associates degree must get a bachelor’s degree within ten years of getting the associates degree. So, money, that may not be as readily accessible later in life, would have to be spent on more education anyway. Furthermore, the financial benefits of obtaining a bachelor’s degree in nursing has an affinity to it like no other job field with a $16,000 pay increase and much more, it is surely the right way to go.

To continue, another reason why getting a bachelor’s degree is right for me is that employers in the medical field prefer a higher education. As in all fields, employers like to see efforts of continuing your education, but especially in the nursing field. There are a lot of nurses with only an associates degree and states such as New York and New Jersey have enacted laws that an RN must get a BSN within ten years or their license is suspended.

Also, according to The University of Texas at Anaheim, “With or without state legislation, hospitals clearly state their preference for BSN-educated nurses” (University of Texas Arlington). Getting a BSN is like anything in life, if you go the extra mile and put in the work, it is always worth it. With a little sacrifice early on, there will be plenty of benefits to reap later on down the road that will be more satisfying.

One of the main

reasons why institutions are looking for BSN-educated graduates is because of a 2003 study out of the University of Pennsylvania by Professor Linda Aiken RN, PhD (University of Texas Arlington. This study shows that death rates in hospitals where the staff mostly had BSNs were nearly cut in half. When it comes to people’s lives, hospitals do not like to play around because if something goes wrong, everyone likes to point fingers and sue.

In Adam Schiff’s novel, The Real Crash, he talks about the corruption of the education system on the high school and collegiate level. At one point he talks about employer bias and claims, “They [employers] have outdated ideas of college as being something providing real education and skills”(Schiff 183). The author’s point here is invalid a most of the time. In order for most students to enter a field, they need a formal education and where else would one go to obtain the training.

You cannot go to trade school to be an engineer, you must go to a university in order to get the proper training. Schiff is saying that college really does not teach someone how to do their job and employers still think they do. Although, this is false because that is what a student goes to college for, to get ready to enter the job field. Nurses must be able to pass the entrance exam in order to get a license from the state, but I guess the state is just handing out certifications because colleges do not provide real education or skills.

Another great reason to get a bachelor’s degree is the job growth and security of the nursing

field. No matter what happens in the world, a recession, catastrophe, or coup d'état, there will always be a need for medical professionals. The nursing field is expected to grow exponentially due to the tremendous Baby Boomer generation getting into their older years. A report from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing says that there is an expected job growth of the nursing field of sixteen percent over a span of ten years, from 2014 to 2024.

There has also been requests by multiple organizations that there be an increase of the number of BSN-educated nurses in the field. To add, 55% of nurses are over 50 years old, and one million nurses are expected to retire in ten to fifteen years according to the same report (Rosseter). So, there will be a great void that will need to be filled by a future generation of nurses, but various articles say that the number of students studying to be nurses is not nearly enough to fill this gap. Although, the past couple of years, there has been shortages of nurses already, so even more are leaving a workforce that is already scrambling to get employees. Finally, job growth and security is yet another reason why getting a bachelor’s degree is the right path for me.

The main point of having students write this essay is to really evaluate if the stress, financially and mentally, is worth getting a degree. In my case, it is worth it. The cost of tuition for Fairleigh Dickinson University for one year is $42,096; to put that into perspective, with $40,000 I can buy a brand new Dodge 3500 mason dump

truck for my landscaping business. Unfortunately, I have three brothers, a twin, then two older brothers that are 20, who are twins also. So, growing up was very expensive for my parents, especially college.

My father put away $30,000 over the years for each of us to spend on the college of our choice. After that $30,000 was gone, he is done, he is not cosigning any loans or giving more money, so I soon realized when applying to colleges I would have to forget about all of the college experience propaganda and focus on the important parts, cost and value. Thankfully, Fairleigh Dickinson gave me nearly $35,000 in financial aid, which greatly reduced my cost and made it the cheapest school for me to attend, making my college choice very clear.

I did the math and realized that if I went to Fairleigh Dickinson and used all of the financial aid and FAFSA loans, that I would not have to take out any other loans. So, I made my decision in early April. To me college is not about finding yourself or an experience everyone should go through, it’s about setting yourself up for the rest of your life. You cannot live in the basement of your parent’s house working a minimum wage job until you are thirty, well, some think they can, but no matter how hard life gets or paying for college gets, you have to take it on the chin, find a better way and keep going.

Furthermore, going to Fairleigh Dickinson to get a BSN is the right choice for me because of the financial benefits in the future, the demand of a

higher education by employers, and the projected job growth and security of the nursing field. Deciding whether going to college or enlisting in the Navy was a hard choice to make but hopefully a smart one in the future. Securing a future for after the military before I join was a great decision because after I get my degree I can go right into the military and already have training in the field.

Like I did, millions deal with the burdensome decision of going to college every year and for such young, lost adults, it is hard, but has to be done. The factors that go into the decision are extremely stressful and take a lot of time to consider, but the question of going to college or not will still remain one of the biggest arguments people today will encounter.